10 Famous Space and Aviation Innovations Of 2010

As the year 2010 is about to finish, it has brought many innovations and technologies which will change the shape of the future. These innovations are dawn of a new era of autonomous power where technologies will run our daily life thus making are work more efficient and will reduce the time of discoveries. 2010 has turned out to be one such year, when people from around the world have achieved their groundbreaking innovative milestones.

So here I have compiled a list of ten most famous space and aviation innovations of 2010 which will surely widen the scope of aviation and space exploration.

Solar Impulse HB-SIA

Powered by solar batteries, Solar Impulse HB-SIA in July made a successful flight lasting more then 26 hours. The aircraft reached a height of 28,500 feet and flew over night after collecting solar energy at day light.

ESA CRYO-SAT 2

The function of Cryo-Sat 2 satellite is to study the unprecedented data about the polar ice caps and also to track the thickness of the ice caps in the polar regions of Earth. The satellite has interferometric radar range-finder and twin antennas which will study the ice burgs floating in the sea.

Masten Space Systems Xombie

Masten Space Systems is an aerospace startup company that has successfully developed a line of Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) spacecraft initially for unmanned research flights.

Airbus Military A400M

The Airbus A400M is a multi-national four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. It was designed by Airbus Military as a tactical airlifter with strategic capabilities.

Atacama Large Millimeter Array

Atacama Large Millimeter Array is the most powerful radio-telescope array on the planet. It will allow the scientists to observe the gravitational collapse that initiates the birth of stars and the red-shifted radiation emitted 10 billion years ago from the far reaches of the universe.

Spacex Falcon-9

As the shuttles are near retirement, NASA is planning for back up options to send man into space to continue space exploration and maintain crew cycle in the International Space Station (ISS). Space X Falcon-9 rocket will be used to send astronauts into orbit in the Dragon capsule.

Eads Astrium Tandem-X Satellite

TanDEM-X an Earth observation satellite, which, together with the almost identical TerraSAR-X radar satellite, will form a high-precision radar interferometer system. The satellite formation can generate images similar to stereoscopic pictures. It will be possible to measure all the Earth’s land surface a period of less than three years.

Boeing X-37

X-37 was built by Boeing’s Phantom Works Division and looks just like a space shuttle i.e. having two wings and twin ‘V’ shape vertical stabilizers with a payload back of a size of small truck payload bay and also have black thermal tiles on the belly of the craft. It’s a highly classified project which nobody knows about the function or mission except for the official authorities.

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne/Boeing X-51A Waverider

The Boeing X-51 is an unmanned scramjet demonstration aircraft for hypersonic (Mach 6) flight testing. It successfully completed its first free-flight on 26 May 2010 and also achieved the longest duration flight at speeds over Mach and makes it a fastest engine ever built.

Boeing A160 Hummingbird

The Boeing A160 Hummingbird is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) helicopter. Its design incorporates many new technologies never before used in helicopters, allowing for greater endurance and altitude than any helicopter currently in operation.